Several Wadsworth Center Research Scientists and their trainees attended the 2026 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry, held January 10-17, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona. Participants included Drs. Patrick Parsons, George Donati, and Christopher Palmer; Ms. Kayla Mehigan; and Dr. Sarah El Din, an APHL Postdoctoral Fellow. University at Albany doctoral students Deanna Luneau and Joseph Teson from Dr. Parsons’ laboratory also attended the meeting.

For the second consecutive year, scientists from the Wadsworth Center are participating in a community outreach partnership with Rise High, a Schenectady-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program serving students in grades 6-12. The initiative is designed to introduce students to public health science and to encourage interest in STEM and public health careers.

The Wadsworth Center investigated the deaths of five common loons (Gavia immer) collected from New York State waters for suspected type E botulism, a rare type that is usually associated with birds and aquatic environments. Four of the birds were recovered from Lake Erie in Erie County, and one was collected from Lake Ontario in Oswego County. Liver samples from all five loons, along with gastrointestinal contents (pooled samples from the Lake Erie loons and an individual sample from the Lake Ontario loon), were collected on November 19, 2025. 

The Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP) within the Wadsworth Center at the New York State Department of Health has regulatory oversight responsibility for laboratories that test environmental samples collected in New York State.  These laboratories analyze samples for a wide range of toxins, harmful microorganisms, carcinogens, and other substances that may affect public health and the environment. 

Nicole Cairns, Assistant Director of the Wadsworth Center, was elected Chair of The NELAC Institute (TNI) Chemistry Expert Committee on January 7, 2026.  TNI is a national, nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the generation of environmental measurement data of known and documented quality through the development and maintenance of consensus standards.  These standards are used to accredit environmental laboratories, accreditation bodies, and proficiency testing providers nationwide.  Ms.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a significant public health challenge in the United States.  According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 29.5 million individuals aged 12 and older had an alcohol use disorder, while 24 million had a drug use disorder.  Beyond the direct health impacts of substance use, individuals with SUD may also face increased exposure to harmful environmental chemicals that can further compromise health.  Drugs produced through clandestine and unregulated manufacturing processes can expose individuals to a range of contaminan

The Wadsworth Center has identified Borrelia mayonii in blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) collected in New York State – the first time this Lyme disease-like pathogen has been detected outside the upper Midwest. B.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant proposals are reviewed for scientific merit by study sections composed of expert scientists. These panels carefully evaluate and rank submitted applications, with funding decisions based on scientific rigor, innovation, feasibility, and potential impact. Study section service requires a substantial commitment of time and effort, including extensive reading and re-reading of applications, objective evaluation, written critiques, in-depth discussion with peer reviewers during meetings, and submission of final scores and summary statements.

The Single Use Permit process has replaced the Non-Permitted Laboratory request process.  Applications for a Single Use Permit must be submitted by the TESTING LABORATORY using eCLEP. We will no longer accept requests from the REFERRING ENTITY.Please refer to the new Single Use Permit webpage for more information.

The Wadsworth Center Bacteriology Laboratory is collaborating with Albany Medical College on a study evaluating whether the use of electrocautery, rather than a traditional scalpel, for skin incisions can reduce surgical site infections in patients undergoing shoulder arthroplasty. The study will assess both superficial and deep bacterial cultures to determine differences in bacterial contamination associated with the two surgical techniques.

Patrick Parsons, Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the Wadsworth Center, participated in a series of on-camera interviews with Spectroscopy, a technical publication that covers advances in spectroscopic techniques used in analytical chemistry laboratories. Dr.

The Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (CLEP) within the Wadsworth Center regulates clinical laboratory testing in New York State. Among its regulatory responsibilities, CLEP is currently the only regulatory agency in the United States that conducts formal review of Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs). While clinical laboratories outside New York State may develop and use LDTs without FDA approval, any laboratory seeking to test New York State specimens must obtain CLEP approval. 

Click here for Clarification on Clinical Laboratory Testing Personnel Requirements; glucometry

A new research publication coauthored by the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences highlights a link between secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure and sleep disturbances in children. SHS remains a significant public health concern, and emerging evidence suggests it can adversely affect sleep through both biological and behavioral mechanisms.

Dr. Patrick Parsons, Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences (DEHS) and Chief of the Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry at the Wadsworth Center, delivered an invited lecture at the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) on November 19, 2025, in Princeton, New Jersey. EAS is one of the premier analytical chemistry conferences in the United States, drawing experts from across the country—particularly the Northeast—to highlight advances in chemical measurement science.

Proposed regulations to amend Subpart 58-1 and the addition of Subpart 58-6 to replace Part 19 are available for public comment at

A manuscript coauthored by scientists from the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center and Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and epidemiologists from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Westchester County Department of Health, has now been published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases and selected as the journal’s Editor’s Choice article.

Dr. Siân Owen, Principal Investigator in the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Genetics, delivered the keynote address at the 2nd Annual Buffalo Phage Meeting on December 11, 2025, at the University at Buffalo. The meeting brought together researchers, clinicians, and trainees from across Western New York to highlight advances in bacteriophage research and applications to medicine, public health, and biotechnology. 

Scientists from the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences (DEHS) coauthored a new study published in Nature Communications that sheds light on how plastic-associated endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may contribute to hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic inflammatory skin disease with limited treatment options.

For more than 25 years, the Environmental Proficiency Test and Validation Unit (EPTAVU), of the Wadsworth Center’s Division of Environmental Health Sciences (DEHS), produced a comprehensive suite of environmental proficiency testing (PT) samples for hundreds of laboratories accredited through the New York State Department of Health’s Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP).